Gentian Day Trip: Bretton Clough (22nd October 2022)

The plan for today had been to precede the Gentian day walk in the central Peak District with a visit to Monsal Trail parkrun. However, with a sore knee that seems to be exacerbated by even slow running, I surprisingly took the sensible option and skipped the parkrun, heading directly to Sir William Hill to meet the nine others at 9:45am. Steve had planned a ten-mile route via Bretton Clough, Abney Moor and Abney Clough.

We had clear blue skies overhead, and excellent visibility, as we began by ascending the short distance to the summit of Sir William Hill, and then descending north into Bretton Clough. The autumn colours in the bracken and trees were particularly fine in the sunshine.

We continued up the valley a short way then climbed back up to Bretton, where we paused for a snack near the Barrel Inn pub, apparently the highest in Derbyshire. Turns out the Cat & Fiddle Inn is a few metres into Cheshire! We continued west along the lane – currently closed to vehicle traffic due to subsidence – towards Great Hucklow, enjoying the views over the dry-stone-walled White Peak pastures to the south.

From Hucklow Edge, footpaths led us north across the fields and then over Abney Moor to Robin Hood’s Cross, where we paused for our main lunch break. Then we continued down to Abney village and down Abney Clough to reach Stoke Ford and, for a kilometre or so, retrace our morning route back up towards Sir William Hill. This time, however, we bypassed the summit and took the traversing path over the moor directly back to the cars.

Some of the group headed to the pub in Eyam. I was in two minds but set off following the directions given. However, after a couple of passes through the village I hadn’t seen anywhere matching the description, and just headed straight home instead. That allowed me to get the lawn mown before dark anyway, ahead of tomorrow’s rain!

There are a few more photos on Google Photos here, and a map of our route here.